a/n: WARNING - there are adult themes in this chapter (L/S). just an fyi if you're not old enough to be reading it... then you shouldn't be reading it... lol.

Chapter 35

"Shit!" Lexie swore under her breath. Without thinking about it, she sprinted to the end of the hallway and ducked under the tapestry that Snape had led her through on their first trip to the Malfoys. She lit her wand and took the crumbling stone stairs two at a time, jumping the last five and tumbling out the door into the night.

Letting her instincts come back to her, Lexie dashed across the soggy grounds to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She didn't even consider the possibility that someone passing by one of the upper windows of the castle might spot her. Hopefully her intuition about where Snape was about to go was right. There was no time for error. The coin had already begun to grow cool; which meant that he was already off of Hogwarts grounds and had apparated to some unknown location. She had no choice but to roll the dice.

Cold rain was coming down in an annoyingly steady mist, making her feel chilled to the bone instantly. And no wonder; she'd left the castle in such a rush that she hadn't thought to grab her cloak. Then again, she hadn't planned on leaving the castle at all. Her neck and shoulders were completely exposed to the elements.

Spring was fast approaching and the trees and bushes were sporting new buds, thus making the foliage more dense and, consequently, difficult to navigate, especially for someone in a terrible rush. She tripped and stumbled her way through the corner of the forest, rushing toward the clearing in which she could apparate. A particularly sharp branch had raked across her bare shoulder and left a deep gash in her skin. Another more springy branch made a similar scratch on her left cheek, just below her eye. She could feel the blood beginning to ooze down her face. She wiped it unceremoniously away w/ the cuff of her sleeve and continued on.

Upon diving out of the forest over top of a rather large jagger bush, she turned on the spot and with a crack! She apparated to Knockturn Alley.

Her hunch about where Snape was headed had not failed her. Just as she was getting her bearings, she caught a glimpse of a dark cloak whipping around the corner with a swish. She sprinted down the street, her shoes splashing in puddles, soaking her feet through to her socks.

As she approached the corner, she couldn't help but be vividly reminded of all of her meetings with Snape that had happened on this street. None of them had ended very well for her. She figured her odds of things winding up badly tonight were probably against her. She slowed down and pressed her back against the wall, then leaned out around the corner. She saw Snape striding down the street.

An old hag banged shoulders with him, presumably because each was too stubborn to yield the right of way to the other. The collision barely broke his stride. Lexie was hardly surprised when Snape came to a halt just outside of that dirty old pub in the outskirts of Knockturn. The one he'd frequented during the summer months while Lexie was shadowing him regularly. But he didn't go inside… Lexie was peeking around the corner from within yet, another creepy, ominous looking alleyway.

He appeared to be looking for someone. Another Death Eater perhaps? Lexie crouched down, preparing for a long wait… but she didn't have to wait long.

She stood up as a tall, lean figure approached him. She dared to poke her head around the corner. The figure was hooded and his or her face was hidden. It seemed to glide rather than walk. Graceful, delicate… a woman. Lexie felt her heart skip a beat. She'd never met a female Death Eater before… not technically. What were they up to?

As the woman stopped in front of Snape, she removed her hood with long, slender fingers and shook out a long mane of white blonde, shiny hair. Her eyes were heavily lidded, mysterious looking. She moved in close to Snape and spoke into his ear. Lexie's eyes were fixed on the woman's lips, which were a startling shade of blood red. The woman's hand trailed down Snape's forearm and stopped at his wrist. He did not draw away. He muttered something under his breath to her, something which Lexie could not make out for the rain was now coming down liberally, causing a steady pitter-patter on the brick street.

She kept a hold of his wrist and gave him a tug toward the door to the pub. Snape resisted, only for a moment, long enough to give a glance up and down the street. Lexie withdrew back into the alley with an inaudible gasp. Had he spotted her? Unwisely, perhaps, she waited a second, then leaned back around the corner, just far enough to see the entrance to the pub. The door was beginning to close. He'd gone inside with her.

Probably just for a drink… to talk about business… Lexie said to herself, though she wasn't sure she believed it. She got up, slowly and tip-toed around the side of the building. There was a small dingy, circular window just next to the door.

She peered through it just in time to see Snape lean across the counter to speak in an undertone to the bartender. The bald, sinister looking barkeep nodded and turned his back to them for a moment. He reached under the counter and retrieved an object that Lexie couldn't see. Snape traded several coins out of his pocket for the item that the bartender was now placing in Snape's hand.

Once the exchange had been made, the woman retook Snape's hand, towing him up a set of stairs in the back of the bar. She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled slyly.

Lexie felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. They were going upstairs… there was only ever one kind of "upper room" in a bar. The bar was also an inn. Snape had just rented a room… and he was taking that woman upstairs with him. Lexie's head was spinning and she had the unshakable feeling that she was about to be sick.

It was then that the weigh of the last conversation she'd had with Snape hit her with full force. "Our relationship is student-teacher… that is all." His words rang clear in her head. He'd actually meant it.

Lexie felt her eyes prickling as she walked slowly back into the alley. Her teeth chattered slightly together and her lips were quivering uncontrollably. This couldn't be happening. She slid down against the rain washed wall of the tavern, hugging herself tightly. She blinked her eyes closed… and then the tears came. She couldn't stop them. She let her head drop down to her chest and she cried silently. She didn't bother wiping the tears away. The rain was camouflaging them anyway.

She felt so stupid… so juvenile. He'd made a fool of her. How had she let this happen? When had he taken complete control over her? She tried to think back. When had this whole thing stopped being about Snape's guilt or innocence and started being about her life? She couldn't remember…

She thought about how she'd looked at Snape with such a sense of respect earlier that year. On the days where she thought he was 'good'. He'd played the part of a teacher, mentor and Death Eater flawlessly. It was virtually impossible to tell which side he was actually on. Yet, she'd looked up to him for all that he did. Teaching the morning after being badly beaten. Looking confident and unshaken after all of the horrors he'd seen. But it was hard to think of this man with any shred of respect at the moment. A Hogwarts teacher out for an evening rendezvous with a racy looking woman… "A Hogwarts teacher or else a Death Eater." She reminded herself. She shook her head.

Lexie had no idea how long she sat there. She only knew that when she finally stopped crying and looked around her, she was sitting in a rather large puddle and soaked from head to toe. She didn't know exactly why she was still sitting there… after all this time. Did she really want another confrontation with him? What would she say when he finally emerged, his worldly needs satisfied. Part of her wanted to humiliate him by revealing that she knew what he'd been up to… yet another part just wanted an answer… why?

Some time later, Lexie heard the door of the pub bang open. The woman emerged and swaggered up the street, deeper into Knockturn Alley. Another moment passed before Snape himself appeared on the doorstep. He took a moment to fasten his cloak and stepped into the alley in front of her. She got clumsily to her feet and waited for him to get a bit closer.

"Friend of yours?" her voice came in a dangerously soft whisper, drifting out of the shadows.

Snape stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. He turned slowly and looked into the darkness of the alley, willing his eyes to focus on the voice… though, he already recognized it without effort.

"You might say that." He said, his voice calculating. She could tell he was choosing his words carefully. He took a step closer. Lexie did likewise.

"Who is she?" Lexie said, her dark silhouette becoming clearer to Snape as he stepped off the main street.

"An acquaintance… suffice it to say." He said as though warning her not to ask any further questions, though, he knew it wouldn't end there.

"Funny…" she went on recklessly, her words forming before she'd really given them much thought. She glared down the street in the direction the other woman had left in. "I never would've pegged you as the type to go for a blonde." She said acerbically, rounding on him

Snape's eyes flashed in what light there was in the alley. But he said nothing.

"Ha." Lexie laughed, even though she found this situation anything but funny. "Interesting choice of company… Professor." She said, her voice dripping with contempt. She turned gracefully to face him.

"What are you doing here Miss Bane?" he asked softly, surveying her rain soaked figure.

"I guess I could ask you the same thing… but why bother reiterating what we already know?" she said circling him predatorily. She stopped behind him.

He turned again to face her.

She shook her head. "It's alright. You don't need to explain yourself to me." She said, though, she couldn't have meant it less.

"I am going to ask one more time… What are you doing here?" he asked, and this time she knew his patience was wearing thin.

"I was coming to see you. I couldn't stand the thought of one more day passing without speaking to you. But you weren't there… I had to know what you were up to without me… and now I have my answer." She blurted out, throwing her hands up in the air wildly.

"So I guess there's nothing left to say. Don't worry… you've made your point. Student-teacher. I got it." She said, angry tears still leaking from her dark eyes.

"Goodnight… Professor."

Just as she was about to storm out of the alley, a firm hand grasped her just above the elbow. Before she even knew what was happening, she'd been swung around, full circle and slammed against the brick wall. Snape was pinning her against the side of the building. He found her other tiny wrist and crushed them both into the wall at her sides. His feet were practically on top of hers and he leaned in close to her as he spoke, some of his dark hair falling gracefully into his face. Lexie watched, intrigued, as a raindrop slid down one of the strands and dropped off the end.

Feeling her breath trembling on his neck, he asked, "What exactly do you think went on here tonight?" he let his nose brush the side of her face gently as he breathed the question into her ear.

The hairs on the back of Lexie's neck stood on end as his deep baritone voice reverberated in her ear.

She swallowed down her fear and nausea and spoke with as much confidence as she could muster. After all, she knew what she had seen, "Well, I think that speaks for itself." She said mockingly. A dangerous move when he was so obviously in the dominant position.

Now it was Snape's turn to laugh humorously at her. "My…" he paused to tilt his head and look at her, his black eyes gleaming in the flickering, guttering candlelight coming from the pub. "Mistress?"

"Let go of me." She said, struggling against his firm grip on her wrists. She suddenly didn't want to continue this conversation with him any longer. She didn't want to hear what he had to say anymore than she liked the fact that he had somehow managed to get the upper hand in it all.

"Is that what you think?" he asked curiously, sensing her discomfort at his use of the word 'mistress'. And he relished it.

"I said," she growled through clenched teeth. "Let go of me." She tried to push him away but his full weight was crushing her into the wall. He was much too strong for her to overpower him.

"Well?" he asked again in a more demanding voice, "Is it?"

She turned her face away from him.

"Oh…" he surmised her answer. He watched her eyes. Her lashes were fluttering open and shut more often than usual. He suspected that all of the water running down her face was not due to the rain. More than one tear had been shed while she'd waited for him this evening.

"Well… it pains me to disappoint you… after you've clearly put a lot of thought into making up this elaborate storyline… a Death Eater, posing as a Hogwarts teacher, sneaking off for a midnight tryst with a street walker, or another Death Eater." He went on.

"However… this meeting which took place tonight, was strictly business."

"Right. Some business." She spat back in his face.

"I am not about to argue with you Miss Bane. If you insist on acting like a petulant child and believing your own story instead of mine… then I suppose I cannot stop you. But there's something else…" he said mysteriously.

Lexie continued to not look at him.

"Is that… a bit of … jealousy… that I sense? Hmm?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Don't flatter yourself." She said, trying to sound bitter… but it was difficult as his hand had released her and was now tracing a line down her neck causing goosebumps to appear all over her. His finger trailed down along her shoulder. His mouth then followed the path that his finger had taken. He leaned in and placed a strategic kiss on her neck, just under her ear. She breathed out shakily. Then another just below that. Another on the nape of her neck… one on her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" he asked, continuing his ministrations eliciting a sigh from her which she tried and failed to stifle.

"Say it." He demanded. "Tell me you were jealous…"

She swallowed and felt her eyes drift closed. "I was jealous." She said before she could stop herself.

He laughed quietly into her hair. "You wished it was you that I was taking to that upper room… didn't you?"

"Yes…" she breathed.

"Look at me." He said suddenly. "Open your eyes."

She obeyed. She felt her stomach clench as she locked eyes with him.

His mouth descended on hers and he kissed her fiercely. Their lips tangled for some time before his tongue intruded her mouth. The kiss deepened and grew… frantic. His hand that had been cupping her face traced the same line down her neck, across her breast (she gasped) and came to rest on her waist. His fingers slid under the hem of her sweater and came to rest on her bare hip. She was only vaguely aware that her hands, which had, only moments ago, been struggling to push him away were now tangled in his hair, pulling him into her.

He pulled away first and she moaned in protest.

"You know…" he said, slightly out of breath. "They do not rent rooms by the hour here…" he said significantly.

She stared at him. "What are you saying?" she asked in disbelief. Could he possibly be suggesting what she thought he was suggesting?

"I am saying that we should not waste it… Come upstairs with me."

They watched each other silently for a moment. This was going to change everything… no matter what her response was. Finally, she nodded.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Yes." She replied.

He grabbed her wrist again and pulled her back to the door of the pub. He pulled it outward and pushed her gently through the doorway. His hand remained on the small of her back as he navigated her through the small tables and around the bars patrons to the stairs in the back. It was then that he took the lead again and half dragged her up the stairs behind him.

They were kissing again before they'd even managed to get the door open. They stumbled over the threshold, Snape slamming the door unceremoniously behind them. Lexie was struggling against the fastenings of Snape's cloak never breaking the contact between their lips. But her hands seemed to have lost their dexterity and she fumbled with the clasp of his cloak for several frenzied seconds before it finally dropped to the floor around their feet. She then went to work on the buttons of his high collar.

Snape was having far less difficulty in removing her clothing, as her sweater was already off the shoulder as it was. She found herself topless in a matter of seconds. He began to steer her towards the modest looking double bed that acted as the room's centerpiece. Lexie's legs caught the edge of the bed and they toppled onto it.

They didn't speak. It was quiet. It was foreign. It was hot!

This was taking too long… Lexie managed to think as she finished off the last of the buttons of his outer robe… she pushed it off of his shoulders only to find him wearing a long sleeved white dress shirt with… more buttons. She growled in frustration.

Snape pulled off her shoes, one at a time, then went for her belt before bending to kiss her again. He tugged at her jeans until they were down around her knees, revealing her slim, muscular thighs. Now it was Snape's turn to emit a faint growl in the back of his throat as his eyes moved over her flat, rising and falling stomach, down over her slender legs right down to her perfectly pedicured toes. Lexie kicked the jeans off onto the floor.

His hands were all over her, exploring and distracting Lexie from her task of ridding him of his shirt. He was laying on top of her properly now, suckling on her neck roughly. Lexie tilted her head back and allowed him better access.

Suddenly and without warning, he flinched, gasped and rolled partially off of her.

"What? What's wrong?" Lexie asked, stunned, looking up at him.

It was only then that she noticed that he was gripping his left forearm. He flicked the button of the sleeve open and rolled it upward. She watched him with great interest. Sudden realization hit her. He shoved the sleeve up to his elbow and revealed an ugly black tattoo which appeared to be emitting a faint amount of steam.

He sighed heavily. "Damn it." He pushed himself upright. "I have to go."

Lexie didn't argue… she wanted to. She wanted to tell him, "Screw the Death Eaters! I've been waiting too long for this! We might never get this chance again!" but she merely nodded. He got up quickly and began fixing the buttons to his shirt.

Lexie sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "What's going on?" she asked as she bent and picked up his robes.

"I don't know." He answered, as he finished the topmost button.

She handed them to him and he swung them around his shoulders and started on the buttons hurriedly.

"Listen to me." He said, turning towards her while he concentrated on fastening his robes closed. "Something dangerous is happening if I'm being summoned. You need to get back to the castle immediately. Do not be seen." He said, looking up at her while speaking his last words.

Lexie nodded solemnly. She picked up his traveling cloak and offered it to him. He paused for a moment to take it and her hands. "Keep it." He said, releasing her hands and straightening his collar.

"I'll wait for you." She said, taking hold of the front of his robes. He stared down at her and looked as though he wanted to say something. She stood on her tiptoes and he leaned down to meet her. She kiss him, softly this time… and only for a moment. Their foreheads were still together after they had broken the kiss.

"Be safe." She whispered. He nodded and crossed the room briskly. His hand was on the doorknob when he turned suddenly.

"I didn't mean for this to happen…" he said, sounding sincerely disappointed.

She frowned.

"This." He said, holding out his left forearm, indicating the Dark Mark.

He must have read her thoughts, or it was written all over her face. "This…" he gestured to the room and to her. "This… I knew would happen… it was only a matter of time."

And with that he turned and left the room, leaving Lexie standing clutching his cloak in her trembling hands.

a/n: so... how'd i do? this is my 1st attempt at this kind of a scene. it feels sleezy to write it... but i don't think it was TOO terribly graphic... anyway - this was VERY enjoyable to write! and i wrote it b/c i got an IMMEDIATE review of the last chapter i posted! so - do me a favor & review BOTH CHAPTERS! reviews keep me motivated! & motivation keeps me writing!

special thanks to writer-in-disguise for keeping me on track! she's gone so far as to threaten to show up on my doorstep with a pitchfork & torch if i didn't get a chapter posted... yeah... that made me a little nervous - so here's 2! i always look forward to your reviews! you rock cuz!

puddlemere united - happy birthday!

popess2 - thanks for the review! no more 3 mo. long hiatus'! he he!